John T. Houk ’55 has the all-time Brown record for most
tennis victories and the best won-lost percentage. In three varsity
seasons he had a 35-5 record playing at the number one position
against some of the top collegiate tennis players in the East. Dock
Houk scored victories over each of the top men from Yale, Harvard,
and Princeton. Coach Arthur Palmer rates him as the finest player
and toughest competitor he coached in his 15 years on the Hill.
“Playing against Houk was like playing against a brick
wall,” Palmer says. “The ball just kept coming back at
you.” Houk, a master of placement play, as the first man to
win the Exton Tennis Tournament at Brown three years running since
the trophy was donated by John Exton ’37. In 1948, Houk won
four titles – All-Navy, Norfolk City, South Atlantic
Regional, and Tidewater Open.